When One Spotlight Isn't Enough: Lera Auerbach’s Journey as a Renaissance Artist of the 21st Century

The Althafen Foundation is proud to announce Lera Auerbach as the 2024 Artist in Spotlight, celebrating her as a true renaissance figure of the modern era. Auerbach, known for her remarkable versatility, embodies the interdisciplinary spirit by seamlessly transitioning between her roles as a conductor, composer, pianist, visual artist, and poet. In an age where specialization often limits creativity, Auerbach defies boundaries, using each of her talents to inform and elevate the others, creating a holistic and comprehensive artistic vision.

An Interdisciplinary Talent

Auerbach’s journey as an artist began with her virtuosity as a pianist and composer. From a young age, she displayed extraordinary achievements as a pianist, making her mark as a soloist while earning the attention of worldwide audiences for her compositions. Over the years, Auerbach has composed symphonies, operas, concertos, and chamber works that have been commissioned and performed by the world’s leading orchestras and ensembles. But even as she gained prominence in the classical music world, it became clear that her creativity could not be contained to a single discipline.

As a poet, Auerbach’s literary works have earned her recognition internationally. Her poetry, often inspired by themes of time, memory, and existence, offers a deeper insight into her musical compositions, revealing the thought processes and emotions behind her music. It’s as if Auerbach’s music and poetry speak to one another, each medium enhancing and expanding the other.

Auerbach’s exploration of visual art further deepened her creative expression. Her striking, often surrealistic paintings and sculptures have been featured in exhibitions, reflecting her introspective and philosophical nature. Through bold colors, intricate perspectives, and abstract forms, Auerbach’s visual art offers a window into the same complex inner world that drives her music and poetry.

In recent years, Auerbach has added conducting to her vast repertoire, using her knowledge as a composer to lead orchestras with an unparalleled understanding of the music she presents. Her transition into conducting has allowed her to convey her artistic vision directly through performers to the audiences, bringing her interdisciplinary understanding of music to new level of recognition.

A Year of Innovation and Exploration

Lera Auerbach’s transformative year as the Althafen Foundation’s Artist in Spotlight began in late 2023, during her residency festival at AMARE Den Haag. The festival featured the premiere of "Flights of the Angakok," a powerful new work co-commissioned by the Althafen Foundation. This piece, inspired by indigenous cultures and the concept of shamanistic journeys, set the tone for a year of deep artistic exploration and boundary-pushing creativity.

Following the success of her residency at AMARE, the spotlight on Auerbach's work will expand even further in the 2024-2025 season, when Konzerthaus Berlin takes over with a major residency series titled "Creative Portrait: Lera Auerbach." This season-long series will offer a holistic exploration of her artistic world, featuring performances of her compositions, her own appearances as a performer and conductor, and the presentation of selected visual artworks.

The Konzerthaus Berlin’s Creative Portrait series marks an important next step for Auerbach as she solidifies her status as a leading interdisciplinary artist of the 21st century. As a modern renaissance figure, she has made it clear that no single medium can contain her creativity. This collaboration between Auerbach and the Althafen Foundation is more than just a residency — it is an invitation to explore the limitless potential of creativity.

A New Chapter Begins

With her residency at Althafen Foundation, Lera Auerbach embarks on yet another chapter in her already illustrious career. Her work is a reminder that art, in all its forms, is a vessel for connection — it bridges time, space, and language, uniting us through shared experience and emotion. As Lera Auerbach transitions from the spotlight as a performer and composer to new roles as a conductor and interdisciplinary artist, her journey serves as an inspiration to artists everywhere. It’s a journey that reminds us that when one spotlight isn’t enough, it’s because the artist’s vision is simply too expansive, too vibrant, to be contained by a single medium.

Stay tuned for updates and announcements as Lera Auerbach embarks on her residency with Althafen Foundation, shaping the cultural landscape and inspiring audiences around the globe.